Record numbers of UN credits used for compliance in 2010
Companies such as Vitol will help airlines meet their ETS allowance submission by promoting clean development
Companies and factories regulated by the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) used a record amount of UN credits (Certified Emissions Reductions and Emissions Reductions Units) to meet their emissions reductions targets last year.
Some 137 million CERs and ERUs were used for compliance last year, an increase of 68% compared to 2009.
“The main reason for the higher usage of UN credits in 201o is probably the EU ban on using credits derived from destroying the industrial by-product gases HFC 23 and N2o from adipic acid projects that will apply from 2013,” said Stig Schjolset, a senior analyst at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon.
“As these credits will hold zero value as compliance instruments during phase 3 of the EU ETS, many operators have probably already opted to surrender a higher amount of such credits in 2010 than would otherwise have been the case,” he added.
The airline sector will be allowed to use 32 million CERs to meet its carbon exposure when it joins the Emissions Trading Sytem next year, according to Deutsche Bank.
Of the 137 million credits used, 117 million were CERs, generated by the clean development mechanism (CDM), up 50% on the 78.5 million CERs used in 2009, and 20 million were ERUs, generated by Joint Implementation Projects, up 600% on the 3.2 million ERUs used in 2009.
On 16 May the European Commission will publish data on which credits have been used for compliance in 2010.